We are paying to #7 money to a #22 performer at TE. Why? He's a good decoy? Wow.

He must be a really fucking good decoy. $8.75M for 2013. We could have saved $8.25 on this year's cap. Bad move IMO, and I would love for the guy to show me otherwise.

If he keeps dropping the ball, he's a #22 performer and it's a waste. If he gets his act together he's worth every penny. In either case, without Finley we'd be a vastly different team on offense, and if Cobb went down we'd be pretty well screwed. If nothing else, he's a credible target. I figure the Packers don't sign him again after this year - either he fails and he's not worth having on the team, or he excels and he's too expensive. By then, our young WRs have another year of development and we likely draft another rookie or two and it's a lot easier to let him go.

The contract was signed last year and was a two year deal, therefore this isn't a new signing or a new move or anything.

I don't understand why so many are bitching about this, yet where are the complaints about the Packers paying the #1 QB a salary that's probably not even top 10! OH wait, said QB doesn't speak his mind freely via Twitter and the media doesn't twist his words around making him look more foolish than he is.

Bashing Finley doesn't make you cool. It shows you're short sighted.

Sometimes I think Packers fans dislike their own players more than the rest of the NFL. Crazy.

Really?

That's total BS. The guy wasted half a season "free styling," and never lived up to his contract. The guy is clearly a head case. I have to like that as a fan? I have to see some insane value in this? Or ignore this in endorsing his value?

BS.

I would have rather cut him and moved on. You don't like my opinion, TFB. This has nothing to do with coolness, or liking him or not, and has everything to do with the Packers not getting $9M worth of value at TE. They could have added $8.25M to their cap by not paying the bonus and cutting him to pay for players more worthy of the cash. Plain & simple.

That's total BS. The guy wasted half a season "free styling," and never lived up to his contract. The guy is clearly a head case. I have to like that as a fan? I have to see some insane value in this? Or ignore this in endorsing his value?

BS.

I would have rather cut him and moved on. You don't like my opinion, TFB. This has nothing to do with coolness, or liking him or not, and has everything to do with the Packers not getting $9M worth of value at TE. They could have added $8.25M to their cap by not paying the bonus and cutting him to pay for players more worthy of the cash. Plain & simple.

Short sighted? We won a Super Bowl WITHOUT him.

Remember how the Packers stood behind Mason Crosby last year? He earned that loyalty.

Sure, he'll be tested this year in TC, but he earned the right to have the team stand behind him. How? Because when they were F'ing with his holder for that entire year (2009?) he shut his pie hole and took the responsibility on himself. Didn't blame the coaches, didn't blame the holder, didn't act like a punk-ass little bitch.

Donald Driver? Same thing. Respect.

Ryan Grant, on the other hand, used the Favre fiasco to leverage a contract. We see how the team let him hang until he was the only option in the league last year. If we wouldn't have had multiple injuries, he wouldn't even have been back.

Thus far, Jerkmike falls into the latter category. He's got the team (somewhat) over a barrel right now. That won't last forever.

“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”

I guess it just pisses me off when if you hold an opinion differing from whatever Ted decides to do, you're labeled as "bitching," and "disliking" our own players, or Thompson himself.

I know what I saw last year, and the year before. I've seen how JMike works, and how Ted works. I'm sorry, but I don't find Finley to be worth anywhere hear that much, and I think Ted errs in overpaying his own players, overvaluing them.

I don't dislike Finley, and have been on record here numerous times in expressing my hopes that he makes it here if he stays in a GB uniform. I just didn't think he would, at that price.

That's total BS. The guy wasted half a season "free styling," and never lived up to his contract. The guy is clearly a head case. I have to like that as a fan? I have to see some insane value in this? Or ignore this in endorsing his value?

BS.

I would have rather cut him and moved on. You don't like my opinion, TFB. This has nothing to do with coolness, or liking him or not, and has everything to do with the Packers not getting $9M worth of value at TE. They could have added $8.25M to their cap by not paying the bonus and cutting him to pay for players more worthy of the cash. Plain & simple.

Short sighted? We won a Super Bowl WITHOUT him.

If Finley would have been cut, they would have likely pursued another via free agency (Dustin Keller, et al.). Best case scenario, those guys would have signed for $4-5 million a year. Rock stated he thinks Keller is better, but that's subjective. He's smaller (6'2), and still not a good blocker. There were/are some other options out there, but the net gain is likely only $2-4 million in savings AT MOST. The $8 million number sounds like a lot, but in order to have any kind of serviceable replacement, the savings would only be a few million for someone that is arguably equally as talented as Finley with "less potential," and that isn't familiar with the Packers system yet. That's assuming they could even sign those players period, or for anything less than $8 million.

I guess I just don't see it as a big of a deal as others. He's likely to be a bit overpaid this year, and will probably be gone next season as Nerd mentioned; either by not having a very good season or breaking out and pricing himself out of Green Bay. As others have mentioned, with Jennings gone there's a reasonable chance he could earn every penny of that $8 million, especially since it's a contract year. If he does have a great season, the money he's getting paid won't be any issue at all. He caught the Packers in a slightly tough spot, and they have to 'eat' $2-3 million for a season and hope he has a great year (which isn't unrealistic, imo).

So, apparently we drafted, but didn't "develop" Quarless, Williams and Taylor. We just have no one to play TE if we don't give Jermichael Finley $9,000,000.

I would have rather paid that to Dumervil, or Matthews/Raji, etc in a new deal.

For 2013, Finely >>> than the other options on this team. I was high on Williams, but he hasn't developed as I expected (although I still think he can). Quarless could be serviceable, but his health is the main question with him. Perhaps if the team was confident he could return to his pre-injury form, the situation with Finley would have been different. Taylor definitely isn't in the same league in terms of a receiving tight-end and is more of a H-back/special teams/bottom of the roster guy.

As for resigning Mathews/Raji, I really don't think the few million difference will have any significant consequence on any of that.

As I understand, if we had cut him, there would have been a $3 million + cap hit. I wish he could have been restructured for a lower cap number and longer term, but what's done is done. All we can do is hope for Finley to snap out of the dropping thing. The good news, of course, is a lot of players really come through big in their contract season. The bad news is if that does happen, it will be extremely difficult to keep him beyond this season.

Expressing the Good Normal Views of Good Normal Americans. If Anything I Say Smacks of Extremism, Please Tell Me EXACTLY What.

The contract was signed last year and was a two year deal, therefore this isn't a new signing or a new move or anything.

I don't understand why so many are bitching about this, yet where are the complaints about the Packers paying the #1 QB a salary that's probably not even top 10! OH wait, said QB doesn't speak his mind freely via Twitter and the media doesn't twist his words around making him look more foolish than he is.

Bashing Finley doesn't make you cool. It shows you're short sighted.

Sometimes I think Packers fans dislike their own players more than the rest of the NFL. Crazy.

Lol I think Bears fans despise their players more than us in ours.

But anyways I agree.. Finley hasn't had off the field problems.. All he does is talk. Who gives 2 shits. Sure he's dropped a couple balls, but he is a monster receiver and attracts attention throughout games. He's still young 25?26? Let him develop as a player and as a man. I think he's on his way.

I'm fine with them keeping him, we lost Crabtree to FA and we don't know what we have in Quarless or Williams. We can focus on this Defense and Oline now that we don't have to worrie about getting a Top TE in the draft.

As I understand, if we had cut him, there would have been a $3 million + cap hit. I wish he could have been restructured for a lower cap number and longer term, but what's done is done. All we can do is hope for Finley to snap out of the dropping thing. The good news, of course, is a lot of players really come through big in their contract season. The bad news is if that does happen, it will be extremely difficult to keep him beyond this season.

It was my understanding we would have only eaten $0.5M, and realized $8.25 off of our cap. That is a lot of money with those 3 re-signings looming.

I realize it is just one year, but, wouldn't you have rather signed Elvis Dumervil to be opposite Matthews, like the Ravens now have opposite Suggs, and just draft another TE? How about front loading a Raji Re-signing? Or Matthews?

How many years has Finley had to prove himself?

I like Ted Thompson, and I'm grateful to have him as our GM, but the guy does make his mistakes like any other GM will. Calling any of those out is blasphemy. Oh well. I guess now he will be more committed, more dedicated to knowing his routes, and he won't drop as many passes.

So, apparently we drafted, but didn't "develop" Quarless, Williams and Taylor. We just have no one to play TE if we don't give Jermichael Finley $9,000,000.

I would have rather paid that to Dumervil, or Matthews/Raji, etc in a new deal.

And we still have the money to pay Matthews, Raji, Shields, Rodgers, and so on. The Packers are very good at budgeting.

Finley is on a one-year contract. It's not a big deal. He'll make a lot of money this year and then his contract is off the books. This has no long-term implications to the Green Bay Packers. That's why they're sticking with him.

In addition, Finley was a vital part of the team after the bye. He caught the ball well, blocked well, and shut his mouth. His blocking is actually an underrated asset. He’s improved leaps and bounds as a blocker.

He also caught 32 passes in his last seven regular-season games. Over that same span, Randall Cobb caught 35 passes (in six games) and James Jones caught 24 passes. If Finley plays as he did in the second half of 2012, then he could catch 70 passes next season. I know it’s a big if, but a one-year contract limits the risks.

It was my understanding we would have only eaten $0.5M, and realized $8.25 off of our cap. That is a lot of money with those 3 re-signings looming.

I realize it is just one year, but, wouldn't you have rather signed Elvis Dumervil to be opposite Matthews, like the Ravens now have opposite Suggs, and just draft another TE? How about front loading a Raji Re-signing? Or Matthews?

Why would we do that when we have Perry who only went on IR with a broken hand and is coming off his rookie year?

It was my understanding we would have only eaten $0.5M, and realized $8.25 off of our cap. That is a lot of money with those 3 re-signings looming.

And as I've already mentioned, the Packers would have likely tried to replace Finley with another tight end that cost a minimum of $4-5 million a season, making the net gain only ~$3 million. Of course there's no guarantee any street free agent that was a suitable replacement would have signed with the Packers and/or quickly learn the system. I guess the Packers could have stuck with the other tight ends that are the roster and HOPE to get a solid player in the draft, but that is far from a guarantee either, and could mean passing on a stud defensive player in the top two rounds to do so (and of course, who knows how a rookie would pan out in the first few seasons). I'd rather roll with Finley for another season, who is a solid player, and focus on other areas. The $3 or so million in savings from cutting him wouldn't make the difference in signing any big-time free agent or Rodgers, CM3, Raji, etc. I really don't get that argument at all. It's of little consequence in the big scheme of things. It certainly wasn't mutually exclusive, e.g. Finley or a player like Dumervil. Even if Ted cut Finley, he wasn't going to sign any big-time free agent, imo. It's just how he rolls.

Off subject and I know it won't happen, but in the back of my mind I'm still hoping for a signing like James Harrison on a reasonable deal. He sure would make a nice insurance policy/pass-rusher should Perry struggle for another season.

Jermichael Finley said on Twitter Monday afternoon that he'll remain with the Packers this season, and a source confirmed that the Packers tight end didn't take a pay cut or have his contract changed in any way by the 3 p.m. deadline.

Delivering the latest and most important updates on the Green Bay Packers for your convenience.

Remember how the Packers stood behind Mason Crosby last year? He earned that loyalty.

Sure, he'll be tested this year in TC, but he earned the right to have the team stand behind him. How? Because when they were F'ing with his holder for that entire year (2009?) he shut his pie hole and took the responsibility on himself. Didn't blame the coaches, didn't blame the holder, didn't act like a punk-ass little bitch.

Donald Driver? Same thing. Respect.

Ryan Grant, on the other hand, used the Favre fiasco to leverage a contract. We see how the team let him hang until he was the only option in the league last year. If we wouldn't have had multiple injuries, he wouldn't even have been back.

Thus far, Jerkmike falls into the latter category. He's got the team (somewhat) over a barrel right now. That won't last forever.

If this makes any kind of difference in your decision making, you're doing a bad job.

There's no place for loyalty in the NFL. If you can get someone better (and cheaper), you go for that. That Driver stuck around last year still baffles me.

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